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NEW YORK — Tensions between the U.S. and Israel were exposed on Monday when Washington stood aside and allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
The U.S. decision to abstain from the vote prompted Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a scheduled trip to the U.S. by two of his top advisers, two Israeli officials said.
The U.S. had previously vetoed similar resolutions calling for a cease-fire. Its position evolved last week when on Friday, it put forward a cease-fire resolution tied to the release of hostages. That resolution fell when it was vetoed by Russia and China. The U.S. abstention on Monday's vote allowed the latest resolution to pass, when the other 14 members of the 15-strong council voted yes.
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that while the latest resolution included edits requested by the U.S., Washington could not vote yes because it "did not agree with everything."
The resolution, put forward by the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, demands an immediate cease-fire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and "the urgent need to expand the flow" of aid into Gaza.
While resolutions made by the UN Security Council are legally binding, they can be — and have been in the past — ignored, as the UN enforcement mechanisms are limited.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said a failure to implement the resolution would be "unforgivable."
"The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate cease-fire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable," Guterres wrote on X, previously known as Twitter.
The UN vote on Monday came as tensions grow over a looming Israeli military operation in Gaza's southern city of Rafah. The U.S. has been calling on Israel to explain how it will protect the 1.4 million Palestinians seeking refuge there ahead of the expected incursion, which the U.S. said "would be a mistake."
Israel's national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, a member of the war cabinet and close adviser to Netanyahu, had been scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday night to discuss the offensive and U.S. alternatives, but the visit was canceled after the vote.
National Security spokesman John Kirby offered a fuller response to Netanyahu's decision to cancel the delegation, saying the U.S. was disappointed by the decision to cancel the trip.
"We're very disappointed that they will not be coming to Washington, D.C., to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah," he said.
Separately, Israel agreed to a U.S. proposal on a prisoner-hostage deal, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravid's reporting on the recent round of talks in Doha. The reported deal could see the release of around 700 Palestinian prisoners, among them 100 serving life sentences for killing Israeli nationals, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
However, Hamas said more issues remain unresolved beyond the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Hamas senior officials Basem Naeim told CNN that "Israeli-American media" was adding pressure on the talks.
"For us, the negotiations are not only centric around the prisoner exchange deal," he said.
"Israel has not agreed to any of [Hamas] requests related to a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of all forces from the Gaza Strip, even in stages, and the return of all displaced people to their homes," Naeim said.
Contributing: Lauren Izso and Jeremy Diamond
